What’s in the Bag

Seven Travel Essentials Worth Packing…

No matter whether I’m pitching a tent in my backyard for a few days or flying halfway across the world to Zanzibar for a month, I’ve learned there are a few things to always have with me, just in case. Here are seven items to consider packing for your next adventure, and where to find them:  

1) First aid kit I’ve added and removed things out of my first aid kit over the years, but my 2026 version includes water purification tablets, Tums/Pepto Bismol, bandages, healing ointments, cough drops, aspirin, lip balm, disinfectant wipes and a small tube of sunscreen. 

• Find already-stocked first aid kits at REI Chico and Redding Sports Ltd. 

2) Quick-dry towel Lightweight microfiber towels are great to have when camping or backpacking, as they fold up easily and take up little room in a pack. When going to beaches, Sand Cloud towels are great to have around because they are lightweight, yet cover a lot of area. Their biggest benefit is with one fell swoop, the sand comes right off them. 

•Quick-dry towels are at REI Chico while Sand Cloud towels can be found online at www.sandcloud.com.

3) Dry bag When traveling around or in the water, the last thing you want to happen is for all your electronics and personal belongings to get wet, so I just have all of that in a 100 percent waterproof dry bag from the get-go. When hopping from boat to boat, island to island, my Exped Drybag Ultra becomes my purse. It’s thin and has a roll-up/fold closure to keep everything airtight and water out. And just in case it falls in the water, I know my things are protected.  

• Waterproof dry bags are found at Redding Sports Ltd. And Headwaters Adventure Co. 

4) Bug spray When hanging out around rivers, lakes, ponds or tropical environments, it’s common for mosquitoes to start emerging at dusk. When that happens, you want to have your guard up. PARA’KITO makes an effective mosquito spray that’s water-resistant, made of natural essential oils (better for the environment), and keeps you protected for up to eight hours. Seabow Skin, a Shasta County business, makes an all-natural, high potency insect repellant, as well. 

•PARA’KITO is sold at West Marine in Redding, Tractor Supply Co., or online; Seabow Skin TICK OFF spray is sold at the Redding Farmers Market. 

5) Conditioner bar Along with keeping one’s skin protected from mosquitoes and the sun, one thing I always pack with me is a solid conditioner bar. It seems like at any hotel, shampoo is always readily available, but after hours of playing in the ocean or lake, sometimes hair needs an extra element to get those tangles out. And not only are solid conditioner bars carry-on friendly, but it doesn’t make as much of a mess if the bar busts out of its packaging. 

•Seabow Skin makes a shampoo bar, but the closest locally made conditioner bar I’ve been able to find is the Quench Alp Tahoe Blue conditioner bar at quenchalp.com. 

6) The Luci Inflatable Solar Lantern The Luci Inflatable Solar Lantern is easy to inflate or deflate, taking up hardly any room in a backpack while providing naturally sourced light for close to 50 hours. Whether you’re camping, using it as a navigation source for the 100-mile California River Quest, or hanging it from the head of an open-air shower on an unpowered island in the Philippines, this is a must-have. 

•Buy it at REI, Walmart, Amazon or Cabela’s.

7) Portable charger Since our smartphones are an essential part of how we travel now (whether it’s calling an Uber, navigating a map, or finding your hotel), a portable charger brings much peace of mind when you end up in a new place and your phone battery is on 5 percent. There are dozens of options out there now, but the one I use is the myCharge Portable Charger. This charging pack is about the size of a wallet and has built-in Lightning and USB-C cables for your iPhone and/or Android, plus a USB-A port just in case you have to plug another cable in. It weighs about a half pound and provides around eight hours of power. 

• Find it at Best Buy, Target, or mycharge.com. 

Other items worth packing if you have room:  

• Vitamin gummies 
• Travel wipes
• Lightweight fold-up rain jacket
• Blow up travel pillow
• Quik dry snowboard/climbing/hiking socks

Article Written by:
Kayla Anderson is a freelance writer and co-author of Moon Travel Guides’ Best of California State Parks and Northern California Road Trips. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from CSU, Chico and loves to read, write, and explore the North State and beyond.